A quarter ago, we were questioning lack of job growth and its affect upon housing demand. With one stroke of the government pen in March, Tampa Bay job growth was restated to add 18,000 additional jobs. Moreover, our unemployment rate has dropped by 1.1 percent over the last twelve months. Couple this with higher household formations, lower gas prices and wage growth, demand for housing is improving. Coming out of the Great Recession we stated that Tampa will not return to average housing activity until the workforce size fully recovers to prerecession levels. As of March, Tampa is at 99% of the peak employment level. If job creation continues at the current pace, Tampa will set a new peak employment level sometime in 2015. The wildcards in demand moving forward will be pricing, availability of entry level product and potential interest rate increases.

A lot of great information from Jodi and senior Raymond James analysts in this one!

The U.S. stock market ended November in positive territory with the three major indices up 2% to 3%. On top of that, American manufacturing continued at a strong pace, even as counterparts abroad slowed. And if history repeats, the latter half of December typically brings with it a so-called Santa rally, though Chief Investment Strategist Jeff Saut recently cautioned that any slowdown before the rally historically comes in the first two weeks of December. For now, stocks look “poised for higher prices, yet again,” he wrote. The last month of the year “is a pretty strong month for the equity markets,” he noted in his December 1 commentary.

Investors should remain watchful of action overseas. Europe’s manufacturing has weakened; Japan’s debt has been downgraded; political unrest continues in Hong Kong, and Russia’s ruble is weak on lower oil prices and economic sanctions. In case you missed it, Japan, the world’s third largest economy, officially slipped into recession November 18 after its GDP fell for two straight quarters. That news coupled with Europe’s economic worries makes the overall global outlook a little weaker, but could prompt some investment flows into U.S. markets, which appear stronger by comparison.

John’s advice this month is when investing focus on process not performance. Many times performance can be misleading due to some unexpected occurrence but the better you identify your goals and risks the better your process and results will be in the long run. Plus lots of other great stuff in here as always. Just click here.